The Meaning of Regionalization: Why Federalism Is a Problem for Belgian Dutch-Speakers in Times of Democratic Malaise

Ann-Mireille Sautter, The Meaning of Regionalization: Why Federalism Is a Problem for Belgian Dutch-Speakers in Times of Democratic Malaise, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2026;, pjag002, https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjag002

Abstract 

Why might citizens express support for regionalization in theory while resisting further devolution in practice? Research on the devolution paradox has largely addressed such tensions by disentangling the various understandings of the dependent variable, specifically by distinguishing regional authority into shared rule versus self-rule. Yet the everyday meaning citizens attach to “regionalization” remains underexamined. Drawing on data from focus groups with Dutch-speaking Belgians (n = 43) conducted in 2008 and 2018, this article uncovers a surprisingly negative colloquial connotation of the concept. Building on citizens’ associations with the context-appropriate term “federalism”, it analyzes the narrative repertoires that citizens mobilize to make sense of their everyday encounters with multilevel governance. Beyond familiar identitarian and utilitarian accounts, the analysis identifies a third, cynical narrative in which regionalization is framed as serving political elites rather than citizens. This affective register suggests that attitudes toward multilevel governance partly reflect diffuse evaluations of democratic performance and legitimacy, helping explain why regional authority can be endorsed in theory as a remedy for shortcomings in representation and responsiveness, while further devolution is resisted in practice as an untrustworthy or dysfunctional reform process.